About six years ago, I had a routine medical check up. When the tests were completed, my Dr. told me I was a walking heart attack or stroke victim. You see, I was over 40 years old, and overweight to the point of obesity. I was carrying around an excess of 75 pounds.
Other Doctors had advised me to lose weight, but never quite as bluntly. I had promised to lose weight, and I had tried hard to get rid of the extra pounds, but without much success. I had gotten so frustrated that I had given up, and resigned myself to be overweight for the rest of my life.
Somehow, that last time that I was asked by my Dr. to lose weight, something clicked in my brain, and I just decided that the excess weight was going to come off.
About five and a half to six months later, I had lost 75 pounds.
So how did I do it, you may ask?
I went on a special eating plan. Here are the basic details of my plan:
First, you are never hungry because you eat five or six small meals each day. That means that you get to eat every two and a half to three hours. So, just about the time that you start thinking about food because your appetite is coming back, it's time to eat again.
So you treat yourself to another small feast, and hunger never gets a chance to bother you.
I'm sure you've heard of this concept before, of eating three to four times per day, although with the diet plan I followed, you expand this to five or six small meals per day.
So, what's the big deal with this diet plan?
As the old saying goes, "the devil is in the details." I will go into the details a little further on.
Now, I'd like to briefly cover some amazing health benefits that I personally experienced. These health benefits may not seem much of a concern to my younger readers, but if you are over 40 years old, you should pay special attention.
The American population today shares a common problem, obesity. One out of three people in this country are believed to be overweight. Unfortunately, the age at which people are finding themselves overweight is getting lower and lower. Therefore what I am about to reveal from my own experience should be of interest to many people regardless of their age.
My situation was that after being very healthy for a long time while I was young, as the years passed I finally run into a common problem that comes as we age, or as we find ourselves overweight, regardless of age.
I am referring to two conditions that seem to accompany being overweight. Your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels may rise into the danger zone. Even if you feel you are healthy, your blood pressure and your cholesterol levels can be dangerously high.
The worst problem is that neither of these conditions make you feel sick. You just continue on your merry way thinking everything's alright with your health. You don't even think about these issues.
What usually happens is that a bad cold or sinus infection, or some other minor health issue causes you to go to your Dr. And after taking care of your cold or sinus problem or other minor issues, your Dr. tells you that he would like to have some blood work done on you. And you reluctantly comply, just to get the Dr. off your back.
When the results come back, you are requested to see your Dr. again, and that's when you learn that either your blood pressure or your cholesterol, or both, are way too high.
What happened to me was that both my blood pressure and cholesterol were too high. I was placed first on one medication to control my blood pressure, then on two medications and finally on three medications for high blood pressure. My cholesterol was too high, but I was borderline for needing medication, so my Dr. decided to wait and just monitor my condition.
Now, fast forward a few months to the time I had been on my special diet plan for a while. I had lost a lot of weight, and I was still on three blood pressure medications. At my Dr.'s suggestion, I bought a device to check my blood pressure every day at home.
As I started losing considerable weight, my blood pressure started to fall.
Finally, my blood pressure was so low that I got concerned about it. My Dr. took me off two of the blood pressure medications. As my weight loss continued, I was taken off all blood pressure medication. At my new, and considerably lower weight, my blood pressure was lower than the new recommended level which is 120/80. I was easily below that level without any medication!
My cholesterol level had stabilized, except for my triglycerides which were still high before I was done losing all that weight. My Dr. explained to me that triglycerides are a key factor in evaluating a person's cholesterol.
When I had finally lost 75 pounds, my blood pressure, without medication settled at a point below the medically recommended level. And my cholesterol, including my triglycerides was significantly below the average which is considered medically safe.
How did all this happen?
It happened simply as a side benefit of spending almost six months on my special diet plan. The excess weight I lost may well have added years to my life.
As a way of dramatizing the significance of my weight loss, I calculated that my weight loss amounted to "cutting off" 26% of my former body mass.
ABOUT ME
I retired from Eastman Kodak Co. after 30 years of service mostly in International Marketing. I traveled extensively around the world for over 20 years. In those travels, I visited 50+ countries, at last count.
My international trips were mostly around the world, and lasted 4 weeks on average. Since I normally took 3 trips of 4 weeks duration each year, I was away from my family more than I cared to.
On the plus side, what I enjoyed most about these travels was the opportunity to make many friends of different cultures, and to gain an appreciation for the wonderful cultural variety of this world we live in.
My current interests are in online marketing, and specifically making money online. It seems like a natural transition from my off line marketing experience.
http://www.juansdietsecrets.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Juan_A_Rademacher
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